Lost Dog Street Band frontman Benjamin Tod has released a 12-song covers album spanning Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan and Keith Whitley.
by Paul Cashmere
Benjamin Tod has released Country Is Dead, a 12-track album of reworked country, folk and Americana songs that traces the musical influences behind his work with Lost Dog Street Band and his solo career. The album is available digitally through Thirty Tigers from September 9, 2026, with Tod approaching each selection as an opportunity to reinterpret songs that have been part of his musical life since his teenage years.
The project is built around songs Tod regards as foundational rather than simply assembling a conventional collection of covers. The repertoire moves from Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams to Merle Haggard, George Jones, Don Williams, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and Keith Whitley, connecting early country music with later traditional and outsider interpretations of the genre.
“My general take on covers is they either need to be done differently, or done better,” Tod says. “There’s a few that are impossible to do either with, but I think we hit that mark on most of this record. I wanted to take on the challenge of making new arrangements, and in some cases, reinventing old standards in completely different ways.”
For Tod, the album also represents a return to the music that informed his development as a performer and songwriter. Several of the songs were part of his repertoire when he was playing on the streets of Nashville as a teenager.
“Some of these songs I started playing on the streets of Nashville when I was a teenager, and shaped who I am as a writer and a musician,” he says. “This was a full-circle kind of moment, and really a means of insight into who I am.”
The album opens with Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting For A Train”, placing one of the earliest defining figures of recorded country music at the centre of Tod’s musical lineage. The Byrds’ “Hickory Wind” follows, bringing the California country-rock movement into the sequence.
Other selections include Larry Sparks’ “Natural Thing To Do”, Ricky Skaggs’ “Highway 40 Blues” and Hank Locklin’s “Nashville Women”. Tod also revisits Merle Haggard’s “You Take Me For Granted”, Don Williams’ “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend” and Hank Williams’ “Alone And Forsaken”.
George Jones’ “Color Of The Blues”, Bob Dylan’s “Only A Hobo”, Billy Joe Shaver’s “Ragged Old Truck” and Keith Whitley’s “Turn This Thing Around” complete the album.
Country Is Dead follows Tod’s April 2026 solo album Vengeance And Grace, also released through Thirty Tigers. That record presented original material across a two-sided concept exploring contrasting aspects of Tod’s songwriting, with traditional country and folk music forming its musical foundation.
Tod’s recording history extends across both his solo work and Lost Dog Street Band. His solo catalogue began with I Will Rise in 2017, followed by A Heart Of Gold Is Hard To Find in 2019 and Songs I Swore I’d Never Sing in 2022. Shooting Star followed in 2024, alongside a series of singles and collaborations.
As the frontman of Lost Dog Street Band, Tod has released a catalogue including Sick Pup, Life’s A Dog-gone Shame, Homeward Bound, Rage And Tragedy, Weight Of A Trigger, The Magnolia Sessions, Glory, Survived and Live From A Mile High.
Weight Of A Trigger gave the band one of its notable chart results when it reached No. 5 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart in 2019. The group has also maintained a connection with independent music-making, including crowdfunding releases and self-published video work.
Tod’s early musical development was shaped by guitar playing and years spent travelling and busking. He received his first guitar at seven and began playing seriously in his teens. His work with Ashley Mae eventually led to the formation of Lost Dog Street Band in 2010, establishing the partnership that became the centre of his musical career.
Country Is Dead places those formative influences directly inside Tod’s current catalogue. Rather than presenting the songs as archival exercises, the album documents how a selection of established country and folk compositions continue to inform the musician’s own approach.
The 12-track album is available digitally now through Thirty Tigers.
Tracklisting
Waiting For A Train (Jimmie Rodgers)
Hickory Wind (The Byrds)
Natural Thing To Do (Larry Sparks)
Highway 40 Blues (Ricky Skaggs)
Nashville Women (Hank Locklin)
You Take Me For Granted (Merle Haggard)
Some Broken Hearts Never Mend (Don Williams)
Alone And Forsaken (Hank Williams)
Color Of The Blues (George Jones)
Only A Hobo (Bob Dylan)
Ragged Old Truck (Billy Joe Shaver)
Turn This Thing Around (Keith Whitley)
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